Thursday, November 10, 2016

Trying to process everything with the election...decided to do a
little drawing while thinking. I drew an enormous oak tree in our back
yard that has lost most of its leaves. The oak is the National Tree of
the United States. It is a symbol of strength, endurance, longevity, and
patience.

The results of this election are appalling. The
rhetoric and ridiculous pandering to hate has made a large segment of
our population (although not the majority) free to indulge their most hateful
fears and thoughts. The media has been hideous in their exploitation of
this hate and bitter divide to produce ratings. It has been ugly. And
it will continue to be ugly.

I thought about this as I made the drawing of the oak tree, because
often in drawing, you go into it hoping for something beautiful. But
when the drawing reveals that it won't be what you want, it is up to you
to make something beautiful out of something ugly. It does not always
work, but you are always left understanding more than when you began.

I mourn Hillary Clinton's loss, and our loss, not as the loss of the
lesser of two evils, but as uncommon brilliance, grace, and dedication
being stomped under the boot of ignorance, fear, misogyny, racism, and
importantly, opportunism. Whether or not Trump really believes his
hateful rhetoric will come to light in the coming months, but the damage
done by it is already growing.

For gay people like myself, the
LGBT community, women, Muslim Americans, African Americans, Latino
Americans, immigrant Americans, the hate is a very real daily fear, not
just an abstract notion.

For those that are happy about the
election results, please keep this in mind as you go forward. We are
your fellow citizens. I have to hope that what Clinton said in her
campaign is true: That we really are stronger together. This means all
of America, not just the ones we agree with.

I don't know if
anything beautiful will come out of this ugliness, but I hope that we
understand more about ourselves as a country after the next 4 years. Let
us hope that we can be strong, endure, and be patient.